Hi guys working on my 72 roadrunner at the mo.sprayed crc down the bores, replaced all spark plugs from the box, did an oil change and flushed the old coolant out and topped it back up also filled her up with new premium gas. Got a new battery as well and with my mate providing power from his car through jump leads we thought we would try and turn this thing over. It turns over when I turn the key and the carby is squirting fuel into the barrels but the car doesn't start, just keeps chugging away trying to start when I turn the key. What more can I do to get this thing up and running! Cheers and TIA.
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 29, 8:11am
Have you checked to see the plugs are actually sparking!
Simple things first!
xacoon,
Jun 29, 8:23am
was it running before this process began! anything else been changed! you have the right firing order!
im_andrew,
Jun 29, 8:40am
Check its got spark. If its electronic ignition (which Im guessing it would be if its a '72) try getting a more solid connection to the battery, IE actually connecting the battery clamps to a good, fully charged battery. I have found that while the starter will still turn the engine over on ~10 volts, the ignition modual will not spark. You get a hell of a voltage drop turning over a big engine on the end of skinny little jumper leads. Remember what Mr. Mossop said!
xacoon,
Jun 29, 8:45am
be flash as michael jackson having a 'leccy ignition in 72 haha. I want to put my money on a timing issue, leads been put on 1/8th out sorta thing.
pettal,
Jun 29, 9:09am
Tow ita round the block a few times trying to bump start it as you go . if it has been sitting for a while valves and compression rings etc may need a bit of beding inagain .
mrfxit,
Jun 29, 9:11am
Auto or manual If manual, try tow starting Have you checked the amp supplied at the coil & how much total load is being pulled by the starter etc!
trader127,
Jun 29, 12:11pm
haha havent check yet! Is it just a matter of holding the lead close to a bit of metal and seeing if it sparks!
trader127,
Jun 29, 12:12pm
Oh yes we have been using that start ya bastard stuff haha
trader127,
Jun 29, 12:15pm
Yeah we used good terminals on a new battery bought today but we still needed the extra power from my mates car and used good thick jumper leads too! But I will try fastening the terminals on properly, cheers :)
trader127,
Jun 29, 12:16pm
mm I numbered and labelled all the leads and put them back in the same order and they are all of different lengths so they wont reach another plug :)
zoltec45,
Jun 29, 12:33pm
Take the lead off, remove spark plug, clip spark plug into lead, earth out the bottom of it onto head or rocker cover and try turning engine over. Should spark up, use gloves haha
zoltec45,
Jun 29, 12:39pm
Fuel - Done Air - Carby not blocked! Spark - Earth out plug to rocker cover and check spark Firing order - Double check firing order and leads are the right way around. Plugs gapped properly! Prob wouldnt be the problem but. Timing - If nothing else, Could be timing out or no/low compression.
Work from the most likeliest to the least likeliest.
pge,
Jun 29, 11:37pm
1) Position forks under sill 2) Raise forks about 1 metre, then start driving forward, raising forks at the same time. 3) Stop raising forks when at about eye-level, keep driving forward until prevented by "Dead Ant".
pge,
Jun 29, 11:52pm
Seriously, but.
When you pulled the old leads off, did you mark the distributor with the cylinder numbers!If so, did you use a pencil!If so, the spark MAY be tracking down the pencil-marks. Check whether you have the leads going to the correct cylinders.Pull #1, put your thumb over the plug-hole, and turn the engine over until you feel compression.Check if you have the lead going to the contact the rotor is pointing-to, in the distributor, then re-set the firing-order round the dizzy.
Good luck.
jaydeesnr,
Jun 30, 3:28am
have you got the rotation correct, may be anti clockwise on plymouth
marte,
Jun 30, 4:45am
I sooooooooooooo envy your friend.
tonyrockyhorror,
Jun 30, 10:21am
Use one of the old plugs and ground the electrode on the block or putting a timing light onto a lead.
Why the CRC down the bores! Sure it's not just been flooded!
trader127,
Jun 30, 11:10am
UPDATE ON PROGRESS: So we checked the sparks, the coil seems to be sparking through to the dizzy but its not spreading the sparks and sending them through to the leads (as the starter motor is sucking all the power from the battery we think) so we put a power wire straight from the positive terminal from the coil to the positive terminal of the battery. Still rotating but not turning over though, so my friend squirted some fresh petrol straight down the carb while I was turning it over and SUCCESS! a couple of hints of life! So this told us the petrol was the problem. So far we have drained the fuel lines and carb of the old petrol and we are going to feed fresh gas into the line from the engine bay and get her going for a bit at least! Will let you know how things pan out :) many thanks for all your help guys, much appreciated!
trader127,
Jun 30, 11:11am
Oh the car has been sitting around for almost a year and just needed to lubricate the pistons as all the oil would have drained out!
tonyrockyhorror,
Aug 16, 1:56pm
I normally just remove the plugs and crank until it has oil pressure. A year is not really *that* long to sit.
I didn't realise you were using old stale fuel though - I figured you'd at least purged the lines given you'd put fresh fuel in it. I presume it is using an electric pump by now. just use that to purge the old fuel from the lines.
BTW 'turning over' is cranking/rotating. You mean it wasn't firing like it was attempting to start.
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